Cookbooks We Like

If you're feeling the urge to get in the kitchen why not take a look at some of these great cookbooks?! Click a category on the left to browse.

New Vegetarian

By: Robin Asbell

With a look as fresh as the recipes themselves, New Vegetarian is full of modern, flavorful food for the 30 million Americans (more every day!) who are vegetarians. More than 75 delicious and simple dishes span a wide range of cuisines and cultures&mdash;from Vietnamese Pho with Tofu to Baked Creamy Squash Pasta with Arugula. Best of all, the dessert chapter includes goodies so luscious even the most die-hard dairy fans won t suspect these sweet treats are vegan!

From award-winning chef Peter Berley: mouthwatering seasonal vegetarian menus that can be created in under an hour

Sophisticated, home-cooked vegetarian meals without the fuss. Is that too much to ask? Absolutely not.

True to his roots as a restaurant chef, cooking teacher, and family man, award-winning vegetarian chef Peter Berley has a passion for meals that taste incredible, salute the seasons, and are easy to prepare in under an hour. In Fresh Food Fast, he provides forty-eight meals -- twelve for each season -- including recipes, a shopping list, an equipment list, and a game plan that takes you step-by-step through the menu.

Included are substantial, satisfying meals that will bring pleasure to vegetarians and omnivores alike:

In a world where fast food is generally prepackaged and second-rate, Peter Berley teaches us how we can live without compromise and enjoy fresh, wholesome meals any night of the week as we connect with family and friends.

Babycakes

By: Erin McKenna

Diagnosed with wheat and dairy allergies in 2004, McKenna faced a life free of cupcakes, pies and brownies. Refusing to accept such a bleak future, McKenna did her research and opened Babycakes, a vegan, gluten-free bakery that has since been warmly embraced by cupcake-crazy Manhattanites. Here she shows readers how to create vegan and gluten-free versions of favorites like apple pie, chocolate chip cookies, gingerbread and Babycakes's infamous cupcakes (named best in the city by New York magazine in 2006).

The Joy of Vegan Baking

By: Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

Whether you want to bake dairy- and egg-free for health, ethical, or environmental reasons, The Joy of Vegan Baking lets you have your cake and eat it, too! Featuring 150 familiar favorites -- from cakes, cookies, and crepes to pies, puddings, and pastries -- this book will show you just how easy, convenient, and delectable baking without eggs and dairy can be.

Bakin’ Without Eggs

By: Rosemarie Emro and Kevin Emro

Finally, delicious recipes for cookies, cakes, and other baked goods that use no eggs!

Millions of people-- including 5 percent of all American children-- have a food allergy, and eggs are one of the most common culprits. In this easy-to-use collection of recipes, Rosemarie Emro presents more than one hundred crowd-pleasing desserts and other treats that contain no eggs. These are delicious cakes, cookies, breads, muffins, brownies, bars, pies, and cobblers with all the flavor, texture, and delights egg-allergic families have been longing for. Everyone who wants to avoid eggs can now rediscover the joys of baking.

The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen

By: Donna Klein

The medical world has been touting the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet for decades. In The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen, Donna Klein provides more than 300 recipes suited to anyone who wants to eat a healthful diet free of animal products. Unlike many vegetarian or vegan cookbooks that simply take the meat or dairy products out of a recipe--or even worse, use tasteless substitutes--this book includes only recipes that actually exist in Mediterranean cuisine. You won't find any grainy cheese substitutes or spongy meat imposters here.

Meatless Mexican Home Cooking: Traditional Recipes That Celebrate the Regional Flavors of Mexico

By: Nancy Zaslavsky

Most of the recipes, many written down for the first time, that are featured in this wonderful assemblage of traditional meatless Mexican fare have been collected from assorted Mexican home cooks. The result is an authentic representation of regional cooking in the home. An introduction to the all-important chiles precedes the usual array of recipes, which ranges from making tortillas and sauces to tamales, soups, salads, main and egg dishes, desserts, and drinks. There is also a chapter devoted to cooking rice, beans, pasta, and potato dishes. A handy glossary and a directory of mail-order sources add to the book's value. Forget the lard; go for refried beans cooked with butter, vegetable oil, or olive oil and for tortilla soup made with vegetable broth. ­Delicioso!

Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian : More Than 650 Meatless Recipes from Around the Globe

By: Madhur Jaffrey

Jaffrey (author of the James Beard Award-winning Madhur Jaffrey's Taste of the Far East) offers an Asian-centered complement to Deborah Madison's European-focused Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. True to Jaffrey's title, the recipes here do hail from all over the world, but an Indian slant can be detected: a chapter on dried legumes contains Black-Eyed Pea Fritters from Nigeria, Boiled Peanuts Indonesian Style, and variations on Chickpea Flour Pancakes from India; a section on grains includes, among other things, the quickly made flatbreads of India, like Punjabi Village-Style Flat Whole Wheat Flaky Breads. Sometimes Jaffrey adopts vegetarian ingredients to make nonmeat versions of familiar dishes, such as a Mock Lamb Curry with seitan (wheat gluten), but more often she simply delves into the meatless tradition of a specific country and pulls up a signature dish (Savory Greek Pumpkin Pie). A chapter on dairy gives instructions for making yogurt, the Indian cheese paneer, mascarpone and other preparations, then describes a variety of ways these bases can be used (Yogurt with Green Mango or Homemade Indian Cheese Cooked in the Style of Scrambled Eggs). With its top-notch glossary of unusual ingredients and thorough information about vegetables, this is an excellent resource for those who like to make everything from scratch as well as those who want fast results.

Real Vegetarian Thai

By: Nancie McDermott

Real Thai has gone vegetarian! Everyone loves Thai food, but it's not easy to find truly meatless dishes. Thai cooking expert Nancie McDermott has developed inventive variations on traditional recipes, providing health-conscious cooks with a repertoire of meatless dishes that captures the vibrant spirit of Thailand. A helpful glossary introduces readers to the seemingly mysterious yet widely available ingredients and equipment used in Thai cooking and offers tips for finding or substituting them. With an emphasis on the classic techniques, ingredients, and flavors of Thai cuisine, this groundbreaking cookbook provides one hundred delicious recipes for everyday meals and special occasions.

Nancie McDermott is a food writer and cooking teacher specializing in the cuisine of Thailand, where she spent three years as a Peace Corps volunteer. Her food articles have appeared in numerous magazines, and she is the author of the perennially popular cookbook, Real Thai.

Flavors of India: Vegetarian Indian Cuisine

By: Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff

Along with recipes for beverages, snacks, chutneys, dairy products, vegetable dishes, rice, dal (lentils, peas, and other legumes), breads, and sweets, you will find helpful information on the spices and other ingredients that are essential to authentic Indian cooking. Includes nutritional information on the healthful benefits of Indian vegetarian cuisine.

"There is a natural foods co-op as big as a football field located in the heart of San Francisco just a short distance from my house."

Throwin’ Down Vegetarian Style!

By: Martha Theus and Kamaal Theus

(Our Family's Guide to Practical Vegetarian Living in the 21st Century)

Our friend, Martha wrote this cookbook. Find out more information on her website.

Low-GI Vegetarian Cookbook

By: Rose Elliot

Ahead of its time, the hardback of this book (titled Fast, Fresh and Fabulous) was much more than a collection of recipes from Britain's most respected vegetarian author. It offered inspiring, mouth-watering dishes that also had a low GI rating. Now available in an updated paperback format, Rose shares the secrets of healthy vegetarian and low-GI living. She gives essential information on living as a healthy vegetarian or vegan, whether you want to lose weight, feed your baby or start eating well to look younger and live longer. Inspired in particular by Mediterranean and Far Eastern cuisine, she combines an abundance of organic vegetables with fresh herbs, exotic spices, beans and grains to produce simple, delicious, energizing dishes. Rose also gives ideas for menu-planning, whether it's for fast, afterwork meals, or celebratory dinner parties. Beautifully illustrated with over 50 stunning recipe shots, this book will inspire and delight vegetarians, non-vegetarians, and those wanting to follow a low-GI diet.

Vegan with a Vengeance : Over 150 Delicious, Cheap, Animal-Free Recipes That Rock

By: Isa Chandra

To appreciate this quirky vegan cookbook, readers must welcome the author's offhand, rambling style. A chatty Brooklynite who hosts her own public access cooking show, she scatters stories about her mother, her friends and her politics among recipes for goodies like Fresh Corn Fritters and Curried Split Pea Soup. In one anecdote, she writes that her mother liked the scones from "one of those overpriced French cafes in Union Square," prompting the author to create Glazed Orange scones in her mother's honor, and the sweet, rich result rivals the average "overpriced café" model. BBQ Pomegranate Tofu is actually baked, not barbecued, but still the tofu is rich and smoky, terrific over rice or packed into heroes. Even better, the vegan iterations of Spanakopita and Seitan-Portobello Stroganoff so closely approximate the traditional versions that even the pickiest eaters would happily trade one for the other. And although there's no chicken broth in Matzoh Ball Soup, the vegetable stock is hearty enough to cure the fiercest cold. Best of all, and rare in a vegan cookbook, the author provides several appealing dairy-free desserts that are tasty enough to fool most omnivores, yet unique enough to thrill any vegan who just can't face another tofu ice cream bar.

The Veggie Queen: Vegetables Get the Royal Treatment

By: Jill Nussinow

(Jill created the Amy's Diet Plan!)

The Veggie Queen: Vegetables Get the Royal Treatment is a lighthearted look at vegetables with more than 100 seasonal recipes sure to elevate their status on your plate. If health is wealth, then this book will make your rich - in vegetables.

Intimate Vegetarian: Practical Cooking for Singles and Couples

By: Nancy Mair

Many of us want to eat healthier foods.But we don't live in communes, we can't take time to soak beans for days, and we don't have our own gardens.We need to cook for one or two people and sometimes we have to improvise with whatever is handy.The Intimate Vegetarian is the perfect companion for singles or couples who want low-fat, intimate meals anytime and anyplace.Its easy-to-follow recipes are creative and delicious!Want a complete dinner in two minutes? Try the French Bread Savories.For an outstanding intimate dinner for two, Italian Risotto makes an excellent entre.These days, it's okay to break the rules- many breakfast dishes make splendid evening meals.With more than twenty years of cooking and catering experience, bestselling author Nancy Mair has gathered over 150 recipes for couples and singles that are recognizable enough for students and the new wave of teen vegetarians.Mair stresses originality and flexibility and always keeps the preparation small-scale.It's all here - appetizers, dips, snacks, soups, breads, salads, sandwiches, rice, pasta and polenta, main courses, grilled dishes, gravies, even desserts.Also included are tips for beginning cooks, notes on how to stock a pantry, strategies for preparing food for those on restricted diets, and a glossary.If you've met someone you'd like to keep company with for decades to come, here's a book that will make intimate, healthy dinners possible anytime.

Nancy Mair's 1989 seminal cookbook, Simply Vegetarian, has sold over 70,000 copies in trade paperback.An accomplished cooking instructor and professional caterer, Nancy is also a flight instructor for hot-air balloons, a firefighter, and a women's freestyle ski instructor.She lives in the Sierra foothills outside Nevada City, California, with her husband, Kerry.

Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker

By: Robin Robertson

200 Recipes for Healthy and Hearty One-Pot Meals that Are Ready When You are

Vegetarian cooking instructor Robertson (Vegan Planet) turns her attention to the growing number of slow cooker owners. Starting with Slow Cooker Basics, she takes the user through the ins and outs of the appliance from the size of machine suitable for good results to cooking times and 10 quick tips for cooking success. She also devotes a small section to those vegetarian ingredients, such as seitan, that nonvegetarians may not be familiar with. Branching out from the traditional casseroles and stews so popular in the early days of the slow cooker, she tackles appetizers, soups and desserts as well, using the appliance with great effect to produce vegetable stocks as well as flavorful offerings like the Indian-inspired Curried Cauliflower Soup with Chutney and Cashews as well as Asian-influenced Hot and Sour Soup. The fundamental chilis and stews are not forgotten, but beans and grains so essential to the vegetarian diet put the slow cooker to best use. Pastas and vegetables nicely round out the book.

Diet for a Small Planet

By: Frances Moore Lappe

Here again is the extraordinary bestselling book that taught America the social and personal significance of a new way of eating-- one that remains a complete guide for eating well in the 90s. Featuring: simple rules for a healthy diet; a streamlined, easy-to-use format; delicious food combinations of protein-rich meals without meat; hundreds of wonderful recipes, and much more.

The New Moosewood Cookbook

By: Mollie Katzen

Since the original publication of the MOOSEWOOD COOKBOOK in 1977, author Mollie Katzen has been leading the revolution in American eating habits. MOOSEWOOD was listed by the New York Times as one of the top ten best-selling cookbooks of all time, and no wonder. With her sophisticated, easy-to-prepare vegetarian recipes, charming drawings, and hand lettering, Mollie introduced millions to a more healthful, natural way of cooking. This new edition--a companion volume to her latest TV series--preserves the major revisions and additions that Mollie made in 1992, accented with new recipes from Mollie’s current repertoire and 16 pages of beautiful full-color food photography. You’ve seen MOOSEWOOD before, but you’ve never seen it quite like this!

MOLLIE KATZEN is a cookbook author and artist who has profoundly shaped the way America eats. Mollie is a consultant and cocreator of Harvard's groundbreaking Food Literacy Project. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

By: Deborah Madison

Amazon.com Review: The elegant simplicity and exquisite flavor of Deborah Madison's food make her one of America's leading cooks. In Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, she offers more than great food: her book includes comprehensive information about ingredients and techniques, plus more than 800 recipes. The recipes range from dishes as familiar as Guacamole to those as distinctive as Green Lentils with Roasted Beets and Preserved Lemons, and Cashew Curry. The 124-page chapter titled "Vegetables: The Heart of the Matter" is a virtual book of culinary revelations; you could use it as a manual on buying and preparing vegetables. Madison provides equally inspired recipes and guidance for everything from grains and soy to dairy foods and desserts.

How to Cook Everything : Vegetarian Cooking

By: Mark Bittman

Great flavor and variety without the meat–favorite vegetarian recipes and ideas that everyone will love. Includes 90 easy-to-follow vegetarian recipes ranging from Black Bean Soup to Vegetable Lasagna to Blueberry Cobbler.

Mark Bittman (CT) is a columnist for the New York Times and the acclaimed author of How to Cook Everything, The Minimalist Cooks at Home, The Minimalist Cooks Dinner, Fish, and other books. He has been featured in national and regional print and broadcast media, including television shows such as the Today show and Martha Stewart Living.

The New Laurel’s Kitchen

By: Laurel Robertson

The New Laurel's Kitchen includes plenty of simple, beat-the-clock recipes - who doesn't need them? But it refuses to blur the distinction between natural foods and fast foods. If you need forty-five minutes to bake a potato or cook brown rice, fine. That's good, solid wind-down time, precious in today's hurried world: time to cut up green beans, or prepare a cauliflower curry; time for the children to dry the lettuce and help make an Appley Bread Pudding. Laurel's kitchen has its own pace - a human pace, that lets other things happen besides just dinner. Good health is the first concern here, and foods that support it are rendered irresistible: dishes like Mushrooms Petaluma, Poppyseed Noodles, Lazy Pirogi, and Sebastapol Pizza. These are well-tested and innately manageable recipes, homespun, but with a generous splash of the sophistication that has swept the food world in recent years.

Great Vegetarian Dishes

Vegan a Go-Go

By: Sarah Kramer

Sarah Kramer is a vegan superstar; she was named “The World’s Coolest Vegan” by Herbivore Magazine, and her first three cookbooks have sold a combined total of over two hundred thousand copies. Vegan a Go-Go! represents a change of pace for Sarah: it is a cookbook and more for vegan travelers, many of whom are daunted by the idea of going on the road and being able to locate and/or prepare the kind of nutritious animal-free meals they enjoy at home.

Vegan Soul Kitchen

By: Bryant Terry

In this electric, eclectic collection of vegan soul food, West Coast chef Bryant Terry (Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen) manages not only to demystify classic southern cooking, he makes it healthier and more accessible. With a low-key approach, commonly sourced ingredients and recipes worthy of any palette, Terry avoids the didacticism and rigidity of other vegan cookbooks.

Great Chefs Cook Vegan

Unlike any other cookbook, Great Chefs Cook Vegan includes recipes from 25 of today's greatest chefs, including Thomas Keller, Jean-George Vongerichten, Eric Ripert, Charlie Trotter, and many other James Beard award-winning chefs. Each chef section includes a three or four-course vegan meal, complete with mouth-watering photographs of each recipe and much more.

Your Comments

Dear Amy,
Hi guys, I just wanted to let you know that I recently enjoyed one of your burritos the other day for the first time. One of my friends recommended it and I found myself buying one on my lunch break...I think I'll be making it a regular practice! I don't know how you make them delicious and actually good for you, but I guess I should leave that to you guys and just enjoy!